Grant Hill

Usually in the mornings you get your daily roundup, but I’m saving the recap for this afternoon so I can roll out the M*A*S*H unit now and give everyone updates on the most anticipated players still nursing injuries (not in any particular order, so pay not attention to the fact I’m leading off with Gerry Henderson).

Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and a host of others did not play for the Boston Celtics. The offense was carried by Aleksandar Pavlovic with 16 points, surpassing his previous season high by 6 points. Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James did not play for Miami, which was led by Dexter Pittman (12 points) and James Jones (11 points).

When they rewrite the story of the Lockout-shortened 2011-12 NBA season, the first thing they better mention is the shocking number of disposable players that came from out of the shadows and into the light. Rubio, Lin, Green, Jenkins, Robinson, Mullens, and on and on and on, until you get to J.J.

Andre Iguodala was a late scratch from last night’s throw-down with the Spurs. And because of that, it quickly turned into a throw-down from the Spurs. Word ’round the campfire is he’s got the left knee patellar tendonitis. I put “the” in front of the diagnosis to alert the reader that I am not a doctor and only have a elementary level of understanding of such injuries.

Most fantasy writers, when they sit down, ultimately write about dragons. Most fantasy sports writers start their articles with the important news. What I tend to do is find the person I wrote the most about and lead with that. It’s just who I am!

In his mammoth tome, The Book of Basketball, a work I begrudgingly call both comprehensive and wholly entertaining, Bill Simmons shares the theory that 24 is the pivotal age for athletic shooting guards. He uses Jordan, Bryant, McGrady, Wade, a 25-year-old Iverson (lost five months as a high school senior sitting in a jail cell) and David Thompson as examples.

Houston’s Chase Budinger has averaged 30 mpg in the three games since Thursday’s trade deadline. In that small sample size, Budinger has averaged .516/.850, along with 2.7 3pg/21.7 ppg/5.3 rpg. I don’t need to tell you how outstanding that production is from a player owned in fewer than 25 percent of fantasy leagues.

For 23 years, Utah head coach Jerry Sloan won 60 percent of his games (1,221 of ’em in the regular season), made it to the Finals twice, got knocked out in one of the first two rounds 18 other times, confused dozens of players with his occasionally incoherent, but nevertheless longwinded mumblings, and stunted the capital growth of NBA tie salesmen for almost three decades.